Changing attitudes and emotions toward coyotes with experiential education. Issue 4 (1st October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sponarski, Carly C.; Vaske, Jerry J.; Bath, Alistair J.; Loeffler, TA
• Is Part Of: Journal of environmental education. Volume 47:Issue 4(2016)
• Page Start: 296
• Page End: 306
• Publication Date: 2016-10-01
• Subjects: attitudes -- control -- coyote -- experiential education -- fear -- likelihood -- outreach; Environmental education -- Periodicals; 333.7207
• DOI: 10.1080/00958964.2016.1158142
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0095-8964

Abstract

ABSTRACT: An experiential education program was designed to target risk perceptions and preventative measures that make people feel comfortable in human-coyote interactions. The research was conducted in a Canadian national park where a coyote caused a human fatality in 2009. Based on previous research, we explored the effects of an experience-based coyote education program on people's (a) attitudes toward, (b) fear of, (c) likelihood of, and (d) control over coming into contact with coyotes. A pre-post-test experiment ( n = 150; 96% completion rate) was conducted. The experiential education approach to wildlife safety and coexistence communication had a significant positive effect on people's attitudes, significantly decreased their sense of fear toward coyotes, significantly decreased their sense of likelihood, and increased their sense of control in human-coyote interactions.